


My Heart Is Your Home

by Miffy



Series: Roses Are Blue, Violets Are Red [2]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 23:39:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11172507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miffy/pseuds/Miffy
Summary: Peeta had never seen a soulmark quite like that one– quite like his. Of course, every soulmark was unique (that was kind of the point), but one that was black and grey, created with magic that resembled finer pencil strokes, definitely was the rarest of rare.Peeta could barely believe that the gods had scratched against his skin and had left a soulmark. A beautiful, breath-taking black with grey bird. But they had. It truly felt like the first day of his life.-Peeta's side of 'True Love Is A Pain In My Ass'.





	My Heart Is Your Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Better late then never, right? :3 I know this chapter isn't really as long as I usually post 'em, but I just really wanted to share this and the ending felt natural :)

Excitement. Joy. Relieve.

It were only three of the emotions Peeta Mellark was overflowing with when he woke up on his seventeenth birthday and found a soulmark below his collarbone.  

Amazement. Elation. Shock.

Three more when his eyes took in the mark. Peeta had never seen a soulmark quite like that one– quite like _his_. Of course, every soulmark was unique (that was kind of the point), but one that was black and grey, created with magic that resembled finer pencil strokes, definitely was the rarest of rare.

Peeta could barely believe that the gods had scratched against his skin and had left a soulmark. A beautiful, breath-taking black with grey bird. But they had. It truly felt like the first day of his life.

 

* * *

 

 

Once upon a time, Peeta’s father, Fredrick Mellark, had a soulmark. Fredrick never met his soulmate, but he met Josephine, Peeta’s mother, who he started a life with instead. They fell in love, got pregnant, got married and had two more boys.

Their marriage wasn’t necessarily an unhappy one, but it did have unhappy moments, and Peeta learned that no matter who you were, marked or not, marriage was hard work. However, his parents’ fights became more frequent, longer and harsher over time, and it ironically all ended when Fredrick’s soulmark disappeared.

His father became glum when the purple sun on his ankle vanished. It meant that the person Fredrick was destined to love, the woman who was supposedly the other half of his being, but who he was unlucky enough to have never met, was dead.

His family could see that the man was mourning over a loss he wasn’t allowed to call his, and Josephine, a woman who wasn’t marked, a Blank Soul, was furious with her husband’s attitude. She couldn’t understand why he was so upset over someone he’d never met, why he’d even spend a second of his precious time thinking about the stranger when Fredrick had everything a man could wish for: a loyal wife, healthy children and a successful business.

Who was this no one when Josephine had given Fredrick _everything_ he had? How could he be so affected by this bimbo’s death when he had _her_? Why would Fredrick even _care_?

They fought endlessly, until the fighting turned into screaming and that turned into a deathly silence. It was a horrible year before they called it quits. Peeta was 14 years old when his mother moved away with his older brother Christopher to Arbington City. He and Ryder, his second brother, stayed in Sacred Harbour, a small town in California, with their father.

“I’m sorry son, that I couldn’t fix things between your mother and me,” his dad apologised one night.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Peeta stated, adamant that his mother was at fault for his parents splitting up.

“I am afraid you’re wrong, son,” his father responded, a rueful smile gracing his features. “Where two fight, two are at fault. I didn’t treat your mother as I should have and I fed her insecurities and jealousy with my dismissive behaviour. We both should’ve done things differently, but we didn’t, and now our children suffer. I am so sorry, Peeta.”

Peeta’s gaze dropped to his hands that were fidgeting in his lap. “I’m sorry too, dad. I just want you to be happy.”

“When you and your brothers are healthy and happy, I am,” he guaranteed his son.

“We are,” Peeta promised his father.

His dad’s story wasn’t a happy one, but it had taught Peeta two valuable lessons.

Never stop looking for your soulmate and never take anything for granted.

Peeta met Thomas Darkwood during his parents’ separation when he joined the local swimming team. A lifetime of living in a beach town with always having the ocean to his disposal had turned Peeta into an avid swimmer. In the summer he spend every free minute in the salty water and in the winter he spend his time at the local swimming pool. When he was older he joined the beachguard and he started competing with his team.

The hours in the water and the hours spend outside of it forged a deep friendship between Peeta and Thom. Thom was there for Peeta during his parents separation and Peeta was there for Thom when Mrs. Darkwood lost her job and his family needed to move out of their home. Together the two friends faced the hardships life threw their way, but they also celebrated the good stuff side by side.

Like when Thom’s mother found a new job after being unemployed for two and a half years, or when their swimming team made it to the Junior League, or when Peeta got his driver’s licence, and especially that time when they both got accepted to Panem University.

But, nothing could compare to when Peeta got marked and only one day later Thomas found a salamander with an intricate pattern on the side of his neck.

“Shit, Peet. It actually happened,” Thom said, still somewhat in shock, his fingers trailing over his mark. “What do we do know?”

Peeta laughed. “Celebrate your birthday, of course. Then we go to practice if we still want that swimming scholarship.”

“Who needs an education or a job when you have true love to fill your days?” Thom grinned.

“You do. You literally tripped into a fountain the other day. You need all the education you can get.”

“Fuck you,” his friend laughed gleefully.

 

* * *

 

 

Of course Peeta knew how blessed he was with his mark, but it also scared him. He was a pretty self-aware guy who knew what his strengths were; he was kind and compassionate, intelligent without being a know-it-all, open-minded and hardworking. He had nice arms, too. 

But, no one was perfect and Peeta was far from it. He had two left hands, got easily distracted and he was afraid of spiders.

The insecurities that had plagued his mother were just as strong as his own and those demons kept him up at night. Something inside of him started eating away at him. It was a fear of him not being worthy of his mark, of his soulmate. In an effort to relieve himself of those insecurities he decided to broaden his horizon by picking up some hobbies in the hope they would appeal to his soulmate.

He decided on gardening. Peeta loved to cook and what was more delicious than home cooked meals made from homegrown vegetables and herbs? He also always loved painting flowers and other plants, so it seemed like an impeccable idea to start growing those, too. Unfortunately, Peeta soon learned that he didn’t have green thumbs. He over-manured his vegetables and neglected his flowers – it wasn’t a pretty sight...

After Peeta threw away the dead vegetables and flowers, and sold his gardening equipment on eBay, he tried music. Regrettably, this too wasn’t a success. His hands were too rough for delicate or complicated instruments and his movements lacked a certain rhythm that made the music sound natural. Or nice. Not to mention that his voice sounded like the one of a dying cat…

Later on, Fredrick Mellark found Peeta in their backyard where he was watching the sunset, a contemplating look on his face. Fredrick knew something was eating away at Peeta, a reason as to why he suddenly seemed so stressed out over his extracurricular activities, but he didn’t want to push his son.

“What a beautiful sunset,” his father commented when he sat down next to him. “Your favourite colour, I believe?”

“Yes.”

They sat in silence for a moment before Fredrick broke it. “How’s the fishing going?”

“Yeah, uh—I don’t seem to be cut out for it..”

“Ah, well… You tried. You’ve been trying a lot of new stuff lately,” his dad pointed out. “I would think you have enough going on with school, swimming and working at the bakery. Are you getting bored, son?”

“Just thought I’d try my hand at something new.”

“Something wrong with the old?”

“No, I just—“ Peeta let out a heavy sigh and pinched his brow, feeling so lost. “I just—well, I want her to be impressed with me. Happy that _I’m_ her soulmate, you know? Not some other guy.”

His father laughed. “Of course she’ll be happy that you’re her other half. You’re her soulmate; you two share true love. She’ll think you are perfect. Just like you’ll think she is.”

“That’s not all. I want to be worthy of this soulmark. This _black with grey_ soulmark. I’m scared, dad,” he admitted. “That I won’t be good enough for her. Or this mark.”

“Changing who you are won’t help. Actually, I reckon it’ll do quite the opposite.”

Peeta looked up at his father, uncertain. “You think so?”

“Yes,” his father said firmly and he squeezed Peeta’s shoulder. “You don’t need to change a thing about yourself, Peeta. I promise you that’s not something you need to worry about. Now, come help me with dinner.”

Peeta got up and followed his father to the kitchen where he always felt at home. The hours upon hours he’d spend cooking with his father and working at the bakery came to good use when Peeta met his soulmate. He learned that she absolutely loved food and eating _his_. That’s when he truly understood the meaning behind his father’s words.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be more to come soon! :D If you have any suggestions, please share them. Inspiration is always welcome :) As are you thoughts/feels/etc. :D Hope you liked xx
> 
>  
> 
> [A lil' aesthetic to go with this fic :D](https://themiffywrites.tumblr.com/post/161708288516/my-heart-is-your-home-peeta-had-never)


End file.
